How to Delete System Recovery Files Windows 10

What is system recovery files?

System recovery files, usually known as system restore points, are the backup of important Windows operating system files and settings that can be used to revert the OS to a previous state in the event of system failure or instability. These files are available to be created automatically or manually in Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10, 11, and Windows Server.

With a system recovery file, you can make your Windows data protected well and even remove any recently downloaded files that are infected with malware or viruses.

▌ Why need to delete recovery files Windows 10?

Although a system restore point matters a lot in the terms of Windows OS and applications, it can consume a significant amount of disk space. Over time, you may find your PC is becoming slow and even sometimes stuck. Therefore, if your Windows 10 is in a good condition and you want to free up space to speed up your computer, you can choose to delete recovery files Windows 10.

▌ Is it safe to delete recovery folder in Windows 10?

Actually, it is 100% safe to delete system recovery files in Windows 10 provided that you do not wish to roll back to your old Windows version. After deleting, there won't be any change to your systems and programs as long as you have used the right methods to delete your restore points.

How to delete system recovery files Windows 10?

After careful research and analysis, we have collected three useful methods about how to delete system recovery files Windows 10 to keep the deletion process smooth and successful.

Tip: The removal of system recovery files will prevent you from being restored to the previous state. If you worry about the occurrence of system problems, you can clone your OS to another drive as a backup.

▶ Delete recovery files Windows 10 using Disk Cleanup

Disk Cleanup is a great inbuilt utility in Windows to free up disk space. If you want to remove recovery files in Windows 10, this tool will make a difference. Here are the steps you can follow:

Note: This method will delete all but the recent system restore point.

Step 1. Press Windows + R keys, type cleanmgr, and press Enter.

Step 2. Select the drive you want to clean up and press OK.

Step 3. Click the Clean up system files button.

Step 4. In the next window, navigate to the More Options tab.

Step 5. Press the Clean up button under the System Restore and Shadow Copies option.

▶ Delete recovery files Windows 10 using System Protection Settings

System Protection Settings is also a good way to delete recovery files, and the steps are very easy. Let’s see how to delete system recovery files Windows 10 via System Protection Settings.

Note: This method allows you to delete multiple restore points.

Step 1. Press Windows + R keys to open Run box, type SystemPropertiesProtection, and press Enter.

Step 2. Under the System Protection tab in the System Properties window, select the drive from where you want to delete system restore points.

Step 3. Press the Configure button.

Step 4. In the next window, click the Delete button.

▶ Delete recovery files Windows 10 using Command Prompt

Although deleting system recovery files Windows 10 is safe, you still need to be very careful about every step you move to delete. Command Prompt is such a good tool that lets you complete deletion tasks quickly and securely. Below is the detailed guide on how to remove restore points via Command Prompt.

Note: This method can help you pick and delete specific restore points as well as delete all at once. After deleting, the restore point is hard to be retrieved even by the deleted file recovery software for Windows 10. Thus, make sure you no longer need them or have backed them up in advance.

Step 1. Press Windows + R keys to open the Run command dialog box. Type CMD and press Enter to open Command Prompt.

Step 2. Type the command below and press Enter to list all system restore points on your PC:

vssadmin list shadows

Step 3. To delete a specific restore point, copy its shadow ID, execute the following command, press Enter and then Y to continue:

vssadmin delete shadows /Shadow={shadow copy ID}

Step 4. To delete all your system restore points, enter the following command and press Enter:

vssadmin delete shadows /all

Further reading: Free up space on C drive more easily

Deleting system recovery files is just one of the ways to release free space on the hard drive. To help you release more available space from the system drive and boost the disk performance, this part will show you two easier ways to get it done.

In order to free up space more easily, I recommend you to download a free disk manager called AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard. This software is tiny and small. Only consuming about 30 MB of disk space, you can get this powerful PC cleaner on your computer. Keep reading and learn how to use AOMEI software to speed up your computer without deleting restore points.

1. Clean up all useless files at one time

Apart from system recovery files, there must be other various files constantly taking up your hard drive capacity like junk files which are useless but slow down your computer speed. With AOMEI Partition Assistant, you can scan and remove all junk files from your computer quickly and easily.

Step 1. Install and open AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard, and then click "Free up" > "PC Cleaner".

Step 2. In the pop-up window, click "Start Scan" to scan for junk files on your PC.

Step 3. Wait until the scanning process completes.

Step 4. After the scan is completed, all kinds of available junk files will be listed. Then, tick the options you want to clean, then click "Clean All" to begin the cleaning process.

Step 5. When the cleanup completed, you can click "Back" to exit the Window.

2. Move apps from C drive to D drive

A slow computer mainly caused by a full system drive. If you move out the most applications and programs from C drive to make enough room for system running, you can certainly get a faster computer. AOMEI software will guarantee all the applications can be activated as before after movement and prevent any data loss.

Step 1. Upgrade to AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional and go to "Free up" > App Mover".

Step 2. Select the C drive and click on "Next".

Step 3. Tick the apps you want to move, select the destination drive, and click on "Move".

Step 4. Hit "OK" to confirm the prompt and then, the app transferring process will start.

Step 5. After it’s done, click on the "Finish" button.

Conclusion

System recovery files are very useful to set your computer back to a previous state if there is something wrong with your system, but sometimes you may want to delete them in order to free up disk space. How to delete system recovery files Windows 10? This passage has covered three practical ways to help remove them from your computer.

What's more, this post also teaches you how to get more free space on the C drive with the help of AOMEI Partition Assistant. In addition to what we have talked about, AOMEI software still has other practical ways to make your PC faster, such as defragging hard drive, aligning SSD partitions, upgrading to a larger disk, wiping partitions, and more.